PRO FOOTBALL

PRO FOOTBALL; Giants Start to Reassess a Faltering Kanell

By BILL PENNINGTON

Published: November 3, 1998

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Nov. 2—
Midway through their 1998 season, the Giants are unconvinced that a slumping Danny Kanell is their quarterback of the future, and team officials view the remainder of the season as an eight-game tryout that could decide Kanell's long-term fate with the team.

The 24-year-old quarterback can restore the Giants' faith in him with improved play, but should their slide continue, they will consider pursuing a quarterback in the college draft, especially if the team's record is poor enough to earn a high draft pick.

Next spring's draft could contain some highly rated quarterbacks, including Kentucky's Tim Couch if he decides to make himself available. Couch, a junior, who is considered a probable top pick, would most likely be well beyond the Giants' grasp unless the team made a dramatic trade to improve its draft position, but several other quarterbacks might be available in the first round.

Giants Coach Jim Fassel bluntly criticized Kanell today, a rebuke that provided a glimpse of the deliberations going on in the team's offices -- where Kanell's continuing inconsistencies have some wondering how long he will remain the team's best available option.

''Danny played poorly,'' Fassel said of Kanell's performance in the Giants' dreary 21-14 defeat to the formerly victoryless Washington Redskins on Sunday. ''I was disappointed in his play. He missed a lot of reads, and when he read something right, he missed some passes.

''His fundamentals were not good; his techniques were not good.''

Fassel added that Kanell was often rushing his decision-making in the pocket, bypassing primary receivers before they could get open and choosing the safest and ultimately least productive option -- a short pass to a running back.

Told of his coach's criticism, Kanell said: ''If he said it, I guess it's so. I'll have to learn from my mistakes and move on.''

Fassel, when asked if he had any plans to replace Kanell with the backup quarterback Kent Graham when the 3-5 Giants face Dallas on Sunday, indicated that he considered that a last resort.

''If the quarterback is what's pulling you down, then you replace him,'' Fassel said. ''Danny did not play well at all, but he doesn't stand alone. I've got to get his confidence back. I'm not a big believer in taking him out and letting him watch so he'll learn.''

Despite this year's stumbling start, Kanell's career record as the Giants' starter is 10-7-1, including last season, when he replaced Dave Brown and displayed poise and proficiency as he led the Giants to a division title. No one associated with the Giants today is saying that Kanell could fall entirely out of the team's plans after this season or that his worth to the team could drop overnight.

A fledgling National Football League quarterback, Kanell could easily restore the team's confidence in him. With 10 victories in his first 18 starts, Kanell's introduction to the league has gone better than most who have come before him.

But his uncertain play this season, exemplified by his erratic play against the struggling Redskins on Sunday, reminded the Giants that the book is still out on Kanell.

The Giants are less sure of Kanell now than they were this summer, when his career record as a starter was 7-2-1 and they rewarded him with a three-year, $9.5 million contract extension. So the Giants are preparing to pursue other options if Kanell continues to regress. They even hope to accelerate their evaluation of the third-string quarterback Mike Cherry, the team's sixth-round pick out of Murray State in 1997. Cherry is expected to play in the N.F.L.'s Europe League this off season to gain seasoning and to give the Giants a chance to assess his potential.

On Sunday, Kanell completed 17 of 32 passes for 151 yards. He did not throw an interception and led one nearly perfect scoring drive, completing three successive passes -- the last a spectacularly timed touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard.

But Kanell frequently threw behind open receivers and overthrew a couple of other receivers at critical junctures. Kanell, who has been sacked 16 times, was also hit often as he released his passes against the Redskins, something that was surely a factor in his performance.

In previous games, Fassel has excused some of Kanell's passing problems because of the poor protection he has often received from his offensive line. Beyond that, the Giants' running attack has been inconsistent, and the team's once fearsome defense has had a number of notable lapses. All of which puts more pressure on Kanell.

But today, while acknowledging that Kanell was frequently hurried, Fassel said it was Kanell's job to overcome the pressure he felt in the pocket.

''That's part of being a N.F.L. quarterback,'' Fassel said. ''You can get hit three straight times; that doesn't mean you'll get hit the fourth time. You've got to wait and deliver the football.''

Consider that a year ago, as he was leading the Giants to the playoffs, Kanell threw 11 touchdown passes in 10 1/2 games. He has 11 touchdown passes this season.

But then, last season's Giants were seventh in the N.F.L. in rushing, and their defense produced 44 turnovers, enough to change the face of most Giants games. This year, they are averaging just 89.4 rushing yards a game. Their defense did not force the Redskins into a turnover on Sunday.

EXTRA POINTS

Giants defensive end MICHAEL STRAHAN had a magnetic resonance imaging test on Monday as the team tried to determine what caused the back stiffness that kept him out of all but two plays against the Redskins.

Coach JIM FASSEL said he did not plan any major moves in the lineup, nor did he expect to experiment or open up the team's offense.

''We're not getting the fundamental plays done right,'' he said. ''I'd love to move on to other stuff, but we're not functioning at this level.''

Photo: Danny Kanell, whose record as a Giants starter is 10-7-1, has struggled to find the form that helped him lead the team to a division title in 1997. (Jose R. Lopez/The New York Times)